Description:Perhaps some of the most impressive scenery in all the Canary Islands is that of the Anden Verde or northwest cliffs of Gran Canaria. Rising in places to over 1000 metres above the ocean below, these cliffs were formed by the gravitational collapse and subsequent erosion of the north western part of the original shield volcano that formed the island of Gran Canaria between 14.5 and 14.1 million years ago. The rocks are composed of layers upon layer of basalts.